CBC v New Brunswick AG

Canadian Broadcasting Corp. v. New Brunswick (Attorney General) [1996] 3 SCR 480 was a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada concerning the open court principle.

Canadian Broadcasting Corp. v. New Brunswick (Attorney General)
Supreme Court of Canada
Hearing: 3 March 1989 Judgment: 21 December 1989
Citations	[1996] 3 SCR 480
Docket No.	24305[1]
Prior history	Appeal from the Court of Appeal for New Brunswick
Ruling	Appeal allowed
Court membership
Reasons given
Unanimous reasons by	Yes
Majority	La Forest J.

Background

At a sentencing hearing for sexual assault, the trial judge excluded the public and the media from the courtroom for parts of the sentencing through an exclusion order made under Section 486(1) of the Criminal Code, which permits a judge to do this.^[2]

Because of the exclusion, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation challenged the constitutionality of Section 486(1) as an infringement on the freedom of the press under section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, arguing that freedom of the press required that they not be excluded from hearings.^[2]

The Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick found that Section 2(b), which protects freedom of expression in Canada, had been infringed, but that the infringement was justifiable under Section 1, the reasonable limits clause, of the Charter.^[2]

Decision

On appeal, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the constitutionality of Section 486(1) but quashed the exclusion order. Judge La Forest J. found that the trial judge erred in issuing the order. He found that though in general, deference should be given to the judge's exercise of his discretion, in this case the order was not necessary to further the proper administration of justice.^[3]